Taking Eris to Aruba - here is what Verizon told meGeneral

Taking a trip this summer to Aruba. While I thought from going through Verizon's site that my Eris should work there, some of the rate info was confusing so I called today and here is what I got. I also have a question or two for those who may know.

1) Eris will work in Aruba, they have to turn on International dialing which can be done the day before and she suggested that I get the Unlimited International Data plan that I can also turn on the day before and turn off the day we get back.

2) International Data plan was roughly $65 per month but pro-rated for 8 days is about $17.

3) Other rates:

Standard Rate per Min: $1.99
Rate per txt message (SEND) : $.50
Rate per txt message (REC) : $.05
Picture/Video per msg (SEND) : $.50
Picture/Video per msg (REC) : $.25
Pay Per use Rate (KB) $.020 ( I assume that this is a non issue if you get the unlimited international plan.

Here are my questions:

When I asked about turning off mobile, gps and roaming and just using the wifi capabilities of the phone, she said that it was still using data and therefore I would need the data plan.

I disagree ( I think ) because if I connect to free wifi, my data is exclusive to that provider, right? Shouldn't I be able to surf on wifi for free?

I seem to recall some eris users in earlier posts saying something about using an unactivated phone for wifi surfing?

Anyone else have any helpful info ( other than don't take the thing at all ) for using my eris's ( whole family has them, I think I will only activate two of them so the wife and I can cut the kids loose some but keep in touch.

She's probably not understanding what you were asking. You don't pay for wifi on your verizon plan. So turn off mobile data and just use wifi. GPS, Bluetooth, etc can be on with you getting charged for anything.

NO, you will not get charged for using wifi, that's just plain ridiculous.

When I asked about turning off mobile, gps and roaming and just using the wifi capabilities of the phone, she said that it was still using data and therefore I would need the data plan.

I disagree ( I think ) because if I connect to free wifi, my data is exclusive to that provider, right? Shouldn't I be able to surf on wifi for free?

Click to expand...

Well, she is kind of right in what she said - while you are away, Verizon will be charging you the $30 monthly data plan - you cannot turn it off, even if you are not going to be using it. You can turn off mobile networking (and turn off data roaming, just to be sure) and use only WiFi, but you still pay for mobile networking.

My guess is that she incorrectly guessed that you were asking to turn off your data access charge while you were away.

Good points, after some doing some additional reading tonight, I found this statement :

Some countries may be served by CDMA voice only, but have GSM Voice and Data. In some areas, you may need to manually select the GSM network to send/receive data. Prior to travel, check your user manual for instructions on how to do a manual network selection.

I did not find Aruba in that list. Now I am unsure because all I really wanted to do was use the cheaper txt to occasionally so I can keep up with my kids. I guess I need to do some additional research on the provider there to see if they use GSM for txt vs CDMA.

What I would probably do is just bring an unlocked GSM phone, and buy a pre-paid SIM card, and just use my Eris for wifi browsing and music and such. I would not bank on CDMA roaming being for anything more than voice and texting. Data would probably go over 1X.

Thanks for all the info. Verizon's pages do tend to be confusing but tonight I found one of their pages which actually allowed me to not only select by list the countries outside of the US but also it showed the available coverage ( CDMA vs. GSM ). It also had links to each of the compatible devices for each. The Eris was listed for compatible CDMA voice and Email. The rates I listed in my original post seem to still be valid, key is to enable idial by calling Verizon and then making sure you update roaming with the *228 send. Here was the link, maybe it can help others traveling this summer to similar places: International Services